Now that most of the Fab Five have left Grey Sloan Memorial, it seems the time could be ripe for Meredith to finally move on from the hospital she’s called home for the last 10 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy—despite telling Derek she didn’t want to move to Washington, D.C. in the season finale. However, Ellen Pompeo thinks there’s a very plausible reason why Meredith cannot follow her husband to Capitol Hill.

“Obviously, Meredith and Derek can’t go anywhere, because the show can’t be in Washington, because then I would know that my parents are really alive and living in the White House and that might piss Meredith off if she goes and sees that Ellis and Thatcher both faked their deaths,” Pompeo tells EW with a hearty laugh.

The actress is, of course, referring to Grey’s alums Kate Burton and Jeff Perry both starring on one of executive producer Shonda Rhimes’ other Thursday night dramas, Scandal, which is not set in the same universe as the ABC medical drama and its spin-off Private Practice. (For the record, Burton will reprise her role as the late Ellis Grey in the season premiere to help unfold the mystery behind Mer’s new half-sister.)

In all seriousness, the question of how Mer and Der will handle their differing opinions when it comes to moving to D.C. won’t be dragged out for very long. “That situation is going to be resolved rather quickly,” Pompeo added. However it all pans out, fans shouldn’t be too worried: They’re not going to end their marriage over it.